Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods and systems for cardiovascular navigation, and more particularly for characterizing motion in a cardiac chamber or organ.
Cardiovascular navigation systems (CNS) provide real-time position and orientation information in relation to a part of the cardiovascular system, such as, the heart based on sensors placed at various locations within the cardiovascular system. The CNS may be integrated with a fluoroscopic (or other diagnostic) imaging system and track the sensors continuously within an imaging volume defined by the fluoroscopic system, on both live and recorded background diagnostic images.
Recently, it has been proposed to utilize the CNS to evaluate the motion of the heart and identify a desired (e.g., optimal) location for placement of a left ventricular (LV) lead. For example, the CNS may systematically record information, such as displacement of the sensors, associated with various endocardial and epicardial locations of the LV. Depending on the size of the heart and other factors during the procedure, there may be between 40 and 120 endocardial LV locations and up to 10 epicardial locations at which the CNS obtains recordings for each patient.
Systems have been proposed to characterize the motion of the heart, based on mechanical activation that is determined from sensor information at various endocardial and epicardial locations. The mechanical activation is used to measure the maximum extent of motion of the heart. However, the sensor information may include a complex pattern with multiple displacement apexes or peaks making determination of the mechanical activation point difficult. A need exists for improved methods and systems that utilize cardiovascular navigation systems for characterizing motion data having complex patterns.